University of the PACIFIC

Reeling off a season in which they set a program record after finishing 12-2 at the friendly confines of the Alex G. Spanos Center, the Pacific women's basketball team is looking to make another run at the Big West Conference in the 2009-10 season.

2008-09 SEASON

The Tigers began their 2008-09 campaign loaded with talent, including a Division II All-America player in Amber Simmons, who head coach Lynne Roberts coached at Chico State from 2004-06. Simmons led the team in nearly every category last season, starting 29 of the Tigers' 30 contests. The senior averaged 16.4 points per game, including a 33-point showing against Long Beach State in double overtime on Feb. 7, 2009.

Simmons was complemented by fellow senior, Janae Young, who like Amber, received two Big West Player of the Week awards in the 2008-09 season. Young was a force in her own right, grabbing down a team-high 230 rebounds in 30 games, as well as averaging 11.5 points per game to finish second on the team. For their efforts, Simmons and Young earned First and Second Team All-Big West, respectively, at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season.

The departed seniors, along with the rest of the Tiger roster, combined to take a fourth-place finish at the Big West Conference Tournament in March 2009. During the first round contest, the Tigers fell to Cal State Fullerton 64-62, after barely missing a buzzer-beater to put Pacific on top. Pacific finished the season with a 14-16 overall record and an 8-8 record in the Big West Conference.

RETURNERS

Fast forward one year and Pacific is rejuvenated by a healthy mix of newcomers and returners, including 2009 Honorable Mention All-Big West recipient Gretchen Tiernan. The junior guard returns for her second year with the Tigers and is also the leading returning scorer after closing out 2009 averaging 8.4 points per game with 243 points on the year. Of those 243 points, 177 were contributed from behind the three-point line for a total of 59 treys. Tiernan served as a dangerous threat from behind the three-point arc, and she will be looked upon to do so again in 2009-10. The junior guard sunk a personal-best seven three-pointers against Cal State Northridge on Jan. 2, 2009, en route to pacing Pacific in the game with a final tally of 21 points.

"There are seven returners and six newcomers, so it's uncharacteristically even that way and I think that's going to be interesting to see how that comes together," Roberts said. "There are 13 players on our team and I think 1-13, we're the deepest we've been since I got here, meaning all 13 players have the ability to contribute."

With a void left by last season's top two scorers, Roberts said that the 2009-10 season already has a healthy dose of competition, as in pre-season practice, all members of the team are stepping up for leadership and fighting for starting roles on the squad.

"It really is playing out that way. Through the preseason we've seen incredible parity and starting spots are wide open," Roberts added.

Other familiar faces returning in 2009-10 include junior Jennifer Fath, who was the team's fifth-leading scorer with 5.1 points per game and 138 total points, senior Emma Head (with a team-high .493 field goal shooting percentage and 93 total points), junior Claire McLeod (who comes back as the leading rebounder with 90 for a 3.5 per game average) and senior Jasmine Dana (79 overall points, 55 total rebounds). Sophomores Andrea Swanson (30 points, 21 rebounds) and Christina Thompson (18 points, 13 rebounds) round out the seven returners to the 2009-10 team.

Roberts' vision that all players will have the option of competing for significant roles on the squad is underscored by the youth of the Tigers, as Pacific's roster only features two returning seniors. However, the Tigers' two seniors, Head and Dana, averaged over 16 minutes of playing time a game last season and will bring a veteran presence to this new squad as they stand at the onset of a new system in 2009-10. Roberts has been actively scouting combo players over the past few years who can serve as both guards and forwards to initiate her new four players out-one player in offense that features four guards and one post. That means that players will have to be comfortable shooting from behind the three-point arc this season, and nearly all returners averaged around the 30 percent-mark last year. Tiernan leads the pack draining 33.1 percent of her threes last year, with Dana close behind at a 29.5 percent mark.

In addition to the seven returning Tigers, the incoming freshmen and transfers have impressive résumés to highlight the mix of returners and add more depth and power to the roster.

NEWCOMERS: TRANSFERS

While the newcomers may be expected to share some of the scoring burden this season, several bring along with them collegiate experience. That list includes juniors Shantel Thomas (UC Santa Barbara and Cosumnes River College) and Arielle White (College of the Canyons), as well as sophomore Eliza Dy (Mt. Sac Junior College). Thomas comes to Pacific with an established Big West resume, as she spent her first season at UC Santa Barbara as a freshman. At UCSB, Thomas saw time in 25 games, averaging 2.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per contest. For her sophomore season, she transferred closer to home at Cosumnes River College where Thomas averaged 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds last season in 2008-09.

"Shantel Thomas could be an absolute impact player in this conference; she's a talented, good player who knows this conference," Roberts said. "She just brings a maturity and an experience level to this team. Coming from UC Santa Barbara her freshman year, she still understands that team and I'm sure [when we play the Gauchos] that's going to be a very personal game for her."

White, on the other hand, comes to Pacific as a true junior college transfer. In two seasons playing at College of the Canyons, White led her team to back-to-back Western State Conference championships after posting an impressive 44-9 record in two years. As a sophomore, White earned all-league first team honors after posting 10.2 points and 2.8 assists per game. She is expected to bring another layer of experience to the young Tiger squad.

"Arielle White could be a lockdown defender in the conference," Roberts said. "She's very athletic with long arms and she can really fly."

Another transfer with quick feet and aggressiveness is Dy, who joins Pacific with one year of collegiate experience under her belt. Dy spent one season at Mt. Sac Junior College in Los Angeles, Calif., where she helped lead her team to a 32-4 record in 2008-09, and a No. 1 seed in the California Community College State Basketball Championships. In her freshman campaign, Dy was named the Mounties' Most Valuable Player and earned First Team All-South Coast Conference honors after averaging 9.0 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game.

"Eliza is a true point guard," Roberts said. "She is competitive and aggressive. We're very excited to have her here."

FRESHMEN CLASS

Finally, Roberts welcomes three incoming freshmen to her team in the 2009-10 season, including Erica McKenzie, Jordan Rogers and Kendall Rodriguez.

McKenzie and Rogers join the Tigers from high schools out of Sparks, Nev., where McKenzie finished her high school career with her fourth-consecutive trip to the state championship tournament, as Reed High School closed out the 2009 season as the Northern Nevada 4A Runner Up. Along the way to the post season, McKenzie led the team on the floor with 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists per game. Her play netted her High Desert League Player of the Year honors as well as earning her the third first team all-league award of her career. In addition, McKenzie garnered first team all-region honors for the third consecutive season while also earning co-player of the year honors for the Northern 4A Region for the first time.

"I think Erica McKenzie will compete for playing time as a freshman. She's a great passer; we haven't had a point guard with that kind of court vision since I've been here," Roberts said. "Her playing time and her contribution level is going to be determined by how much she adapts to the speed and defensive pressure of the college game."

Rogers graduated from Spanish Springs High School and sat out her senior season due to a knee injury. Prior to the start of the 2008-09 season, however, Rogers was named the Pre-Season Nevada State Player of the Year and was also a McDonalds All-American nominee after posting an impressive 17.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.0 steals per game as a junior. That season she was named Player of the Year in both the High Desert League and the Northern Nevada 4A Region.

"Jordan Rogers is a tremendous shooter. She was preseason Nevada State Player of the Year and she can do everything really well," Roberts said. "She is a very versatile player. As with all the freshmen, however quickly she can adapt to the college game is going to determine her playing time."

Rodriguez rounds out the incoming freshmen class after earning four varsity letters at Brea Olinda High School. Rodriguez pushed the Wildcats to back-to-back Century League championships in her last two seasons. Rodriguez's high school career was capped off in winning fashion, as she and her school finished as the Century League champions, where they went on to become the CIF champions and closed out 2009 as Division II California State champs. Kendall closed out a successfully-decorated career with three First Team All-Century League awards. She was also named MVP of the league in 2009 as well as CIF Player of the Year and First Team All-State as a senior.

"Kendall Rodriguez is one of those players who has a great basketball IQ," Roberts said. "She can play three positions on the floor, is real good passer and can do everything well. She's really competitive, so that will bode well for her."

Roberts said she can see all of the newcomers immediately contributing to this 2009-10 squad based on their competitiveness in practice alone.

2009-10 SCHEDULE

The new squad will be put to the test right away, as the first exhibition game begins on Saturday, Nov. 7 against Humboldt State in a double header with the Pacific men's basketball team.

From there, Pacific jumps head-first into action with back-to-back home match-ups against Montana State (Nov. 15) and Southern Utah (Nov. 17).

On the road, the Tigers will travel to the East Coast taking on Iona on Friday, Nov. 20 and then Monmouth the following Sunday, Nov. 22. Pacific continues its road swing up to the Pacific Northwest, where the Tigers will see Portland on Friday, Dec. 4 and then neighboring Portland State Sunday, Dec. 6.

Five opponents bring post-season resumes to the Tigers' strength of schedule this season as Portland, Portland State and conference opponents UC Riverside, made appearances at the 2009 Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), while UC Santa Barbara and Fresno State made it to the 2009 NCAA Tournament. During the 2008-09 season Pacific took down Portland State, 68-50, and Fresno State, 84-70, in the Spanos Center. In a home contest on Feb. 19, the Tigers took down the eventual Big West Conference champion, UC Santa Barbara 59-50, marking Pacific's first win over the Gauchos since the 2003 season.

Big West Conference action kicks off the 2010 calendar year for Pacific, as they head on the road to take on Cal State Northridge Saturday, Jan. 2, and then continue on to Cal State Fullerton Monday, Jan. 4.

The conference home opener is slated for Thursday, Jan. 7, when Pacific meets Cal Poly in the Spanos Center at 7 p.m., and then wraps up the home-opener weekend against the 2008-09 defending Big West Conference regular season and tournament champion, UC Santa Barbara. The Tigers and Gauchos will tangle on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m. And for the third-straight year, the Tigers and St. Joseph's Hospital will partner for Pacific Plays Pink, which kicks off at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 in the Spanos Center against UC Riverside.

Pacific continues its conference schedule all the way into the 2010 Big West Tournament which runs from Wednesday, March 10 until Saturday, March 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.

"I think our schedule's good for where we're at, I think it's competitive and there are some really good regional match-ups," Roberts said. "It's a really competitive schedule, meaning that there's some very high quality teams in nonconference play. These are games that we feel like we should compete in to prepare us for Big West Conference play in 2010."